DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / February 26, 2000

One minute Robert Noonan is singing a French opera and discussing the power of Brahms symphonies, then he’s off on chemistry. Incredibly complicatednames of gases and chemicals leap from his mouth, and all you can do is sit back and say “uh-huh,” and “sure, of course,” as if you have the intelligence to follow the conversation.

The thing is, whether you know anything about what he’s speaking of or not, there’s a great enjoyment in the conversation stemming from listening to a man who loves what he does.

“At 75, I’ve had a lot of careers. I’ve been around for a while,” says Robert.Now in his retirement years it looks like he’s as busy as he ever has been.

Employed by the St. James Parish School Board, Robert came on three yearsago as a part-time instructor to help teach the visually and musically talent students in the parish. Robert now works full time, assisting Mara Landrum,the art teacher for the gifted and talented students in the parish, and goes between six schools on both sides of the river every week. He thoroughlyenjoys his students, full of smiles as he shows off his Lutcher Elementary art class and tells how well his Lutcher High music student is progressing on Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.”Robert walks out of the practice room grinning and describes his favorite part in “Fur Elise.” He sings the notes in scat style and his fingers bounce upand down the invisible keys floating in the air. His love for music is solidlygrounded in his personality. It should be; he’s been a musician since he was11 years old.

Born in Minneapolis, his family moved to Calcasieu Parish, a few miles across the state line from Texas. His father, W.E. Noonan Sr., was a musician and ateacher, promoting music during the depression. “76 trombones, that kind ofman,” says Robert describing the familiar song from the “Music Man.” “In 1930, middle of the depression, he had a 45-piece saxophone band, which describes what he could do,” says Robert. He also helped get organized musicinto the schools and thus helped start off a now long-standing tradition.

“Why don’t we get out and march during halftime so people know we have a band?’ He was one of the first people to do that,” says Robert.

Robert started on the clarinet but says he’s a horn man, playing the french horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba and probably the rest. When Robert wasready to head off to college his father set him straight on his music. “Do youwant to starve?” he asked. On to chemistry at North Western State Robertwent.

After graduation, Robert worked for Universal Poly Chem, tucked deep into the forest outside Shreveport.

“It was heavily guarded and the road twisted around so you didn’t really know how you got there. They had more platinum out there than all the money inthe banks of Shreveport,” says Robert. “We used to joke around about beingable to sneak out the platinum under your fingernails to buy a new car.”Even with his job, music never did leave Robert alone. He played in the collegeorchestra on a scholarship and after school was the first musician hired on by the Shreveport symphony orchestra. Robert played well enough that whenthe orchestra gave him a scholarship, he went back to Centenary College in Shreveport and got another degree, this time in music.

Since then Robert has played all over the country and with all sorts of people. He remembers playing for the Polish State Ballet, where “theprograms were in Polish, the conductor was Russian and didn’t speak English or Polish. His interpreter was Hungarian and spoke English, Polish andRussian. I’ll never forget that,” says Robert, laughing.Robert retired as a teacher from Ascension Parish, though has never stopped working in the arts. Robert has been a member on both the boardsof the River Regions Art Association in Ascension Parish and the River Regions Arts and Humanities Council in LaPlace.

Now Robert continues to follow all of his loves, teaching music and art in the St. James Parish. His music will follow him for the rest of his life, awake orasleep.

“I still dream about playing the french horn; I can still hear the notes, though I haven’t played it in 15 years,” says Robert with a smile.

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